Everywhere
around the world, they are at
the forefront of a campaign to
silence
me.--
David Irving to the
press

Press
Association

London, Friday, May 4, 2001

Press Association
Newsfile

May 4, 2001, Friday

BOYCOTT
THREAT TO OXFORD UNION OVER IRVING
APPEARANCE

Dominic HayesEducation Correspondent,
PA News

A LEADING lecturer
today threatened to campaign for a boycott
of one of Britain's most famous academic
institutions for inviting
notorious
far-right historian David Irving to speak
in a debate.

David Triesman, general
secretary of the Association of University
Teachers, criticised the Oxford Union for
asking him to appear next Thursday.

Giving Mr Irving a platform was likely
to inflame racial tensions in the run-up
to a General Election, Mr Triesman
claimed, and he vowed to call for an
"academic boycott" of the union, both in
the UK and across the world.

Last year, the historian lost a
High
Court libel action against academic
Deborah Lipstadt, who had accused
him of being a "Holocaust denier".

She said his work attempted to claim
that Nazi Germany's genocidal campaign
against Jews, gypsies and homosexuals,
killing six million people during the
Second World War, was a myth.

Finding for Ms Lipstadt, Mr Justice
Gray said Mr Irving was an
"anti-Semite and a racist".

He has been asked to speak against the
motion in a debate entitled

"This House Would Restrict Free
Speech for Extremists"

alongside Rohan Jayasekera,
director of the Index on Censorship.

A scheduled appearance at the union
last year by Mr Irving was cancelled
following protests.

In a letter to union president Amy
Harland, Mr Triesman wrote:

"As an educator, a trade
unionist and a passionate advocate of
the notion of tolerance and inclusion,
I cannot accept your contention that it
is correct to allow Mr Irving a
platform at such a prestigious
institution as the union.

"It will not be possible for the UK
to develop as a multicultural and free
society whilst the views of people like
Mr Irving are offered refuge by
important institutions like the
union.

"If the Oxford Union feels compelled
to proceed with the invitation I must
inform you that this would leave me
with no other option than to call for
an academic boycott of the union both
in this country and from amongst the
academic community and other trade
unions throughout the world."